The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for making glassware, such as dishes or plates, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for producing such glassware via vacuum forming. Glass plates and dishes are commonly vacuum formed in processes wherein a ribbon of glass, either of a single ply or of a laminate construction, is fed in a continuous sheet to a rotating turret, the periphery of which is provided with a plurality of vacuum mold cavities. A pair of rollers receives the deformable glass ribbon and directs it to the turret, registering the ribbon with the vacuum molds. The vacuum molds are activated to draw the glass into the molds, thereby forming the glass ribbon to the shape of the mold. A trimming mechanism then cuts through the glass ribbon to define the periphery of the plate. After trimming, each plate is then discharged from the turret. Such a method and apparatus is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,356 to Giffen.
While this method has generally proven to be satisfactory for the production of glass plates, it would be desirable to develop methods for increasing the yield of such devices. In addition, it would be desirable to develop methods which produced less cullet.
Recessed rollers have heretofore been utilized in glass blowing operations, such as those used to make light bulbs. Examples of such processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,598,560 and 1,807,566. However, such rollers have never before been used successfully in turret-type vacuum molding processes.